appear after a long delay, which in many cases causes loss of attention and at
least topicality. Advertising in the Bulletin is clearly insufficient. According to
some suggestions it would be reasonable to invest more in providing archivists in
non-industrialised countries with free copies of specialist literature than in
air-tickets of which benefit only a few individuals. ICA's Executive Committee
recognises this problem and wishes to take action to improve the distribution of
publications.59
The opinions about the effects of workshops, consultant missions,
specialised training and the like diverge to such a degree that it is impossible to
draw an unequivocal conclusion. Although there are complaints about the
arrogance of some experts and their lack of knowledge of and respect for local
conditions, many respondents from developing countries do appreciate this kind
of co-operation and assistance. Others however, reject this kind of
"neo-colonialism", or state bluntly that expert missions and advisers are useless
if they are not followed by permanent attention and material aid.
It is obvious, however, that a relatively weak organisation like ICA is not able
to meet such requirements. This weakness is no secret and is an inevitable
consequence of its limited resources. For its manpower ICA depends mainly on
the voluntary co-operation of archivists and the authorities to which they are
subject. Financially it is dependent on membership contributions which are
hardly sufficient to maintain a modest infrastructure. The absence of a perma
nent budget for fixed tasks is not compensated for by the money which ICA
receives from Unesco and other supranational bodies in order to carry out parti
cular projects. A better, but of course more expensive, structure would create a
framework for decision-making procedures which follow a bottom up direction
whereas the project oriented method of financing allows mainly an ad hoc and
top down policy.
Finally I want to discuss two points on which ICA has been criticised. In the
first place it must be remarked that there is an almost general impression that
there is too big a distance between the leading structures of ICA and the "base".
The ICA top is regarded as a closed club which communicates poorly with
archivists "in the field". The Executive Committee itself acknowledges this
problem and stated that it is "imperative to improve communications between
the ICA and the professional community which comprises too many individuals
who show no interest for international activities".60
I wonder, however, how one is going to tackle this problem. It looks as if we
are facing here a neat example of a vicious circle. Distance hinders communica
tion and lack of communication widens the distance. I am sure that the enlarge
ment of the number of copies of publications being printed and improvements
in their distribution will not be enough, although availability is, of course, an
important factor. The problem, actually, is that people are not inclined to pay
attention to things which they do not feel attracted to or involved in. For most of
our colleagues international co-operation of archivists is no goal in itself.
Therefore I do not agree with the Executive Committee's just quoted statement
that "too many [colleagues] show no interest for international activities".
On the contrary, I think that the number of colleagues taking an interestin
international co-operation is greater than it ever was, that it is steadily growing
and that many individuals are ready to take part in international projects, within
or outside the ICA framework. However, in order to translate their interest and
readiness into concrete activities the majority of them will surely need projects
which link up with their own practice and lie within their own horizon.
Secondly, it might be useful to draw attention to an answer I received more
than once when respondents were asked to indicate what kind of international
activities could be considered to be the less successful. The answer runs that
though it would be possible to mention examples of failures, it would not be very
wise to do so. I agree that it would be pointless to tell negative stories to an
outsider, but the impression which nevertheless arises is that of international
archival bodies being unable to handle criticism and of artificial courteousness
preventing a normal exchange of opinions. Even if this impression is only
slightly in accordance with reality, it indicates that ICA is in danger. An organisa
tion that wishes to avoid stiffening must stay critical toward itself and must
encourage others to come forward with their opinion. One of the most
successful means of prompting positive criticism is showing that constructive
remarks are dealt with in a serious way. But, as I said before, ICA is on the right
way now. In Montreal the Executive Committee made a deliberate statement
about the necessity of introducing "a continuing system to evaluate the impact
of the activities of the organisation".61 This implies as a matter of course the
consultation of those who are or have been involved in activities as collabora
tors, clients or beneficiaries.
Dealing with failures which may have occurred, we must be honest with
ourselves and take into account the essential weakness of international organisa
tions in general and that of our ICA in particular, representing a branch of the
public service which everywhere shares the same low rating on the political scale
and relying mainly on the voluntary co-operation of people who are more
devoted to their profession than to their jobs as representatives of nations or
cultures. In this light one cannot but appreciate highly the achievements of the
international archival community. ICA rightly enjoys a remarkable prestige
which enables it to obtain co-operation and financial means from a variety of
public and private sources without which the realisation of many projects would
be impossible. It has secured itself a lasting position as an indispensable source
of information and adviser in archival matters on an international level and as a
partner that can be entrusted with the execution of projects in the fields of
archives and records management.
For many colleagues from all over the world the structures of international
professional co-operation have provided the opportunity to break up their
isolation and to get access to a permanent forum for debate and exchange of
experience.
I am inclined to believe those who know better than I do, asserting that ICA
makes a good figure on the international scene and is, in fact, the most effective
NGO.
DE PROFESSIE
59 ICA Bulletin no 39 (December 1992) p. 7.
60 Ibid.
176
JAN VAN DEN BROEK FROM BRUSSELS TO BEIJING
«1 Ibid., p. 8.
62H.J. Rose, A Handbook of Greek Literature (London, 1964), p. 370.
177